De la Espriella Confirmed President After Final Count and Concession

Overview

• The Registro Nacional said the official escrutinio matched the preliminary pre‑count in 99.997% of cases and reported only a 0.003% difference between the two tallies, confirming Abelardo de la Espriella as president‑elect.
• Iván Cepeda formally conceded the race on Wednesday, accepting the result after pressing for review and filing tens of thousands of complaints and requests to impugn thousands of polling tables.
• President Gustavo Petro has continued to voice allegations that some digital E‑14 forms were altered after upload and pointed to private counting offices and foreign actors, though electoral authorities and observers have not substantiated those claims.
• Major international observer missions including the OAS, the EU and the Carter Center publicly endorsed the transparency of the verification process and reported no evidence that changed the outcome.
• Colombia’s two‑step system uses a nonbinding rapid pre‑count followed by a legally decisive escrutinio in which judges verify paper E‑14 forms, a procedure that in this contest produced results nearly identical to the night‑of tally and frames the path to a peaceful transition.